The present invention relates to electronic tokens and locks that cooperate to determine if access should be granted to the user of the token. More particularly, the present invention relates to tokens that communicate information from access point control to another.
Conventional locksets include a lock cylinder, a lock core that fits within the lock cylinder, and a token that cooperates with the lock core. The lock cylinder can take many forms. For example, the lock cylinder may be a padlock or part of a mortise lockset or cylindrical lockset. No matter what form the lock cylinder takes, the lock cylinder includes an opening that receives the lock core. Traditionally, the lock cores have included mechanical features that cooperated with a mechanical token to determine if the user of the token is granted or denied access through the lockset. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,424,693, 4,444,034, and 4,386,510.
Electronic access control systems interrogate a token having stored codes therein and compare the token codes with valid access codes before providing access to an area. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,042. If the token being interrogated has a valid access code, the electronic access control system interacts with portions of a lockset to permit the user of the token to gain access to the area protected by the lockset.
Access control systems may include mechanical and electrical access components to require that a token include both a valid “mechanical code”, for example, an appropriately configured bitted blade to properly position mechanical tumblers, and the valid electronic access code before the user of the token is granted access. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,826,450, 5,768,925, and 5,685,182. Many of these electromechanical access control systems use power sources and access code validation systems which are not situated in the lock core and token and are thus connected by separate circuitry to the lock core.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an access control system is provided for a facility including a plurality of access points. The system includes at least one database including recombination data; a plurality of hard-wired access point control positioned to control access through the plurality of access points of the facility and hard-wired to the database to receive recombination data from the at least one database; at least one access memory device having memory that stores recombination data from at least one of the plurality of hard-wired access point control; and a plurality of stand-alone access point control positioned to control access through the plurality of access points of the facility. The stand-alone access point controls include memory that stores recombination data received from the at least one access memory device. The plurality of hard-wired access point controls define an outer perimeter. The plurality of stand-alone locksets are positioned within the outer perimeter defined by the plurality of hard-wired access point controls.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an access control system is provided for a facility including a plurality of access points. The system includes at least one access memory device having memory; a plurality of one stand-alone access point controls positioned to control access through the plurality of access points of the facility; a plurality of hard-wired access point controls positioned to control access through the plurality of access points of the facility; and at least one database. The stand-alone access point controls determine if the at least one access memory device has access rights to the access points. The plurality of stand-alone access point controls include memory that records access history information. The plurality of stand-alone access point controls and the at least one access memory device have communicators through which the access history information is downloaded from the memory of at least one of the stand-alone access point controls to the memory of the at least one access memory device. The plurality of hard-wired access point controls have a communicator through which the access history information is downloaded from the memory of the access memory device. The plurality of hard-wired access control points controls define an outer perimeter. The plurality of stand-alone access point controls are positioned within the outer perimeter defined by the plurality of hard-wired access point controls. The at least one database receives the access history information from the plurality of hard-wired access point controls.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.